The invention relates to a method and a device for cleaning welding torches in automatic welding lines, on welding robots and hand-held devices used in fabrication of pieces tailored to specific needs.
There are known several methods for cleaning welding torches. All these methods employ mechanical means of cleaning, using one or more wire brushes, several milling cutters or form cutters.
The disadvantage with such approach is that only the external area and part of the internal area can be cleaned by such kind of tools. Smoke gas deposits are not removed completely from inside the torch, and neither are anti-stick agents that are blown in.
Also, the circular layout of the torch selected due to the necessary rotation of the tools proved disadvantageous as it is an obstacle to the required adaptation of the torch's shape for the actual seam or spot area layout. Any modification in the torch's shape would entail a change of the cleaning appliance.
Another disadvantage is that the originally smooth and mostly nickel-plated surface of the torch undergoes a denudation and becomes rough due to its mechanical processing, which in turn causes an even faster and more intense dirtying of the torch.